Education games have been developed as an entertaining way to expand the knowledge base of children and/or adults. Vocabulary and spelling, such as Scrabble®, typically involve placing letter tiles onto a set game board to form a row of words. However, most games only provide one educational skill set at a time. For example, most word games focus just on vocabulary, placing words onto a game board with minimal critical analysis.
Wakefield (U.S. Pat. No. 5,789,421) discloses a word game using tiles and dice. A player is given a letter and rolls the dice to determine the number of tiles to select. The player then selects tiles and attempts to form a word with the tiles.
Cavalluzzo (U.S. Pat. No. 6,769,692) discloses a word game using a gameboard face having rows of playing squares and columns aligning with each row, indicating the number of letter tiles to drawn for forming a word in the corresponding column, the number of letters needed to be played in the row to qualify for a bonus, and the amount of bonus received. Words may be started at any location on the row's playing squares to maximize scoring.
McKee (U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,833) discloses a guessing game using one or more matrix with a code sheet. The code sheet indicates which elements to combine in the matrix to form a line, or other indicia on the matrix, which combine to make up an image or letter. The players are given portions of the letter or word via the matrix code and must guess the letter or word.
Lewis (U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,538) discloses a game where players move an indicated number of spaces onto a board space to purchase the letter indicated on that tile. The object of the game is to form a word that maximizes the player's letters. Once formation of a word, other players landing on the letters of the word must pay a “pay out” fee. The first player to reach a determined amount of money is the winner.
Culley, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,966,556) discloses a card game where players are select a number card, indicating the number of letter cards given to each player, and category card. The players receive letter cards and must make a word pertaining to the category on the category card.
However, the educational word games focus on forming words, with no or minimal focus on other critical thinking skills, like strategy. Puzzle games, such as Blokus®, typically involve placing geometric shapes onto a set game board for a preset challenge. Therefore, what is also needed is a new game that provides education, such as word skills, number skills/mathematics, shape matching skills, color matching skills, and strategy skills, with puzzle solving.